Harry Potter and the Cave of Udanax

Prologue

Inside the infirmary, Professor McGonagall stood behind Harry, who had fallen asleep in a chair next to the bed where Hermione's unconscious body lay. McGonagall's stern features were filled with concern as she took in Harry's exhausted form. She then checked on a sleeping Ron Weasley who was seated on the floor close to Harry. She draped a blanket over the two boys. With a sigh, she walked away feeling totally helpless for the first time in her many years at Hogwarts as an instructor. A small sound made her look up. She saw Madam Pomfrey striding towards her.

"Poppy, will Ms. Granger's condition improve tomorrow?"

The school nurse shook her head, her expression extremely grave. "If she doesn't wake up by tomorrow evening, there will be no hope for her."

***** CHAPTER ONE *****

Neville, who was about to enter the infirmary, froze at the doorway upon hearing Madam Pomfrey's words. His loud intake of breath made both women stopped talking. He quietly slipped in the room, stood silently next to Harry and noticed how tight Harry was clutching Hermione's stiff hand as she lay motionless on the bed. He observed just how deathly pale Hermione's face was; her lips, he noted with alarm, were slightly bluish in color.

Feeing numbed, he sat at the edge of bed next to Hermione, lost in his own thoughts. He remembered just this morning how excited their group was about their first trip to the Forbidden Forest. The memories came rushing back to him.

"They're late."

"Don't worry, Hermione, they'll be here."

"I hope so," Hermione replied, "They can't possibly miss this, Neville. This is the first time we're allowed to enter a magical cave."

They were on their way to their next class for that day, which was Care of Magical Creatures. Just a few steps ahead of them were Parvati, Lavender and the rest of the Gryffindor sixth years. When their group reached the place, the Slytherins were already there along with Hagrid.

Hermione was craning her neck, looking for her two best friends. She appeared relieved upon seeing them. "Harry, Ron!" She waved at them frantically. "What took you two so long?"

"We almost got lost," Harry told her in a rush.

"Guess what Harry and I found out?" Ron had an excited look on his face. "You wouldn't believe what we discovered," he gushed excitedly. "A secret room-" He wasn't able to say anymore for Hagrid started speaking.

"Ol'right then, all of yeh be paired in two's. I have prepared the list." Hagrid pointed to the list posted to a large tree.

"Let's go take a look."

Harry was the first one to reach the tree, followed by Neville and Ron.

"Well?" Hermione asked them.

Neville gave a relieved smile at Hermione. "I'm your partner," he replied brightly.

Smiling, Hermione turned to Harry and Ron. "Who's your partner Harry, Ron?"

When they didn't respond, she took one look at their face and started scanning the list.

ASSIGNED PAIRS

Neville Longbottom - Hermione Granger

Ron Weasley - Parvati Patil

Harry Potter - Lavender Brown

While Hermione was scanning the list, a ghost of a smile appeared at the sides of her mouth. Neville who was standing close by, noticed it and wondered the cause of her amusement. He squinted at the list and saw that Draco Malfoy was paired to Millicent Bulstrode, while Pansy Parkinson was paired with Crabbe. When he looked up, he caught Draco Malfoy staring at Hermione. And so was she. He blinked in surprise. Then both of them quickly looked away. He was regarding Hermione curiously when Hagrid's voice boomed across the air.

"Right, we best get started then."

He led them deep into the Forbidden Forest and straight into a narrow path for about half an hour in silence. The mist was very thick, and they could barely see what was in front of them. Finally he lifted one hand. The students all stopped. Peering through the thick mist, they realized with a start they were now standing in front of an entrance to a enormous cave known as the Cave of the Udanax.

"Inside teh magical cave yer ter find mysterious creatures. We call em Sennipah," explained Hagrid.

The students just gaped at him, too fascinated with the cave. Hagrid appeared satisfied with their reaction, and continued his explanation.

"Sennipah are sensitive ter light and sound. Not one ter show themselves ter noisy crowds, Sennipahs love teh dark an' quiet. Them creatures multiply ter life force with yer happy thoughts. Teh more happy thoughts ter more they grow stronger. Don' go doing any magic with yer wands when yer inside ter cave," he warned. "It only backfire to yer."

Hagrid explicitly instructed them into groups of ten, five pairs to each group. Each group would get a turn in going inside the cave. He would accompany them, while the rest waited outside.

"I repeat, no sound inside ter cave. And no running either," Hagrid warned them.

No one said a word.

"Ahright. Who wants teh be firs' ter enter the cave?" inquired Hagrid.

The Slytherin group volunteered at once.

"Fine. Ol' of ye come wit' me! Rest of ye, wait here."

Draco and the rest followed Hagrid inside the cave. When Hagrid and the Slytherin group were out of sight, Hermione glanced at Neville, who was not looking too happy.

"Anything wrong, Neville?" she asked with concern.

"I haven't entered a cave in my whole life," answered Neville nervously.

"I haven't either, but Hagrid will be there. He won't let any harm come unto us."

Neville's shoulder sagged with relief.

"Thanks, Hermione."

Hermione flashed him a friendly smile. Then after a slight pause, she glanced at him curiously. "Neville, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"You've been doing well in Potions this year..." Hermione commented. She paused, looking embarrassed to continue what she was going to say.

But Neville understood. Since school started, he hadn't made any blunders in Transfiguration and, most notably in Potions, his weakest subject since first year.

"The truth is . . . Hermione, can you keep a secret?"

His cheeks were a little flushed when he looked at her. Hermione nodded slightly. "Well, you see I'm using Kwikspell." His voice was barely a whisper.

"Kwikspell?" she repeated, clearly confused.

"It's a corresponding home lesson, which helps forgetful person like me to remember better," Neville explained.

"Good for you then," Hermione said, smiling. "Oh look, Hagrid's back."

Hagrid had returned alone. "Follow me," he instructed.

With Harry at the front, they followed Hagrid into the cave. It was incredibly dark inside and eerily silent, making the group intensely nervous.

"This is creepy!" whispered Lavender.

"Conjuring a bluebell flame would be nice."

"Ron, Hagrid said not to use any form of magic," said Hermione in a hushed voice.

"I know," Ron muttered. He suddenly stumbled and fell on the ground. Without thinking, he whipped out his wand. "Lumo-"

"Ron, you moron," Parvati hissed, "no magic inside the cave. Remember?"

"Sorry, I forgot," Ron snapped.

They finally reached the center of the cave. It wasn't dark anymore. There was a huge stalactite emitting a bluish light, which illuminated the whole cave.

Draco and the others were already seated by the crevices in pairs. Hagrid told them in a hushed voice to sit in two's anywhere they wanted. Hermione chose a spot; Neville sat beside her. The others followed suit.

After a minute or so, Hermione tugged at Neville's robes. He looked at her questioningly. She whispered, "Don't you feel anything weird?"

"Thought I was just imagining it," Neville admitted in the same low voice.

Slowly a kaleidoscope of color surrounded Hermione and Neville, who were both astonished by the sight. Suddenly, something even more colorful appeared in front of them. It was as big as a rabbit, oddly shaped and shimmering with prisms of color. At first glance they thought it might be a Cornish Pixie, but realized in an instant that it wasn't. Looking closely, they discovered its eyes were as round as saucers, and it had a funny looking beak, but it didn't resemble any sort of bird.

The Sennipah, they discovered, looked like a weird combination of a Furby and McDonald's Grimace, only it was multicolored and it shimmered and dazzled Hermione and Neville with its astonishing brilliance.

Fascinated, Hermione, reached out to touch it.

Neville stiffened with concern. He relaxed when nothing happened.

Hermione gasped in surprise. "Neville, touch it." Her voice was filled with wonder. Never in her wildest dream could she ever imagine seeing the thoughts, which used to swirl inside her head, with her own two eyes.

Neville slowly reached out a trembling hand to touch the Sennipah. The moment his fingertip made contact with the mysterious creature, an incredible feeling of absolute wonder suddenly filled his whole being.

"Wow!" he murmured. He felt like floating in a dream state, his happy memories and dreams meshed into one, and the end result was his own fantasia.

What Hagrid didn't tell them was that these magical creatures have the unique ability to fill people with absolute happiness, placing you in a dreamlike state of euphoria. Hagrid had paired them up for a reason. When pairs entered their cave, each Sennipah would select a pair, and allow people to see and touch them. These creatures allow this to happen only once in a lifetime. If one of them try to enter the cave again with another person, the Sennipah will not reappear.

Hermione and Neville were not aware of the time anymore, each one lost in their own private paradise. There was a flash of blinding silvery light then Neville, realized with a start that he was being immersed inside the secret world of Hermione's thoughts, dreams and memories.

The same thing happened to Hermione. She was astonished as Neville's most intimate thoughts and memories flooded her mind.

For more than an hour, but what seemed like eternal bliss to them, all of the students inside the cave, were able to delve in each other's most secret, most private inner thoughts and dreams. Within such a short time, they all rediscovered a lot of things they would have never possibly remember. Some even witnessed memories long forgotten, buried at the back of their mind.

Incredibly, they even got the chance to take a glimpse at the person they were partnered with. Hermione, for instance, had been friends with Neville for ages, but she didn't have an inkling what Neville's inner thoughts and feelings really were, and if not for the Sennipah, she would never have found out, not in a million years.

She was most surprised to discover that Neville's thoughts were mostly all about a silver-haired little girl. The girl seemed very young, around four to five years old, looking pretty as a picture; smiling, laughing, playing with Neville, offering him an apple, asking him to play hide and seek and many more others childhood memories of the past. His last memory was a heart tugging one. The little girl was crying her eyes out and waving her little hand goodbye to Neville saying, "I'll owl you soon. Promise me, you'll owl me back! Bye, Neville."

Only one happy memory of Neville was during his stay in Hogwarts, and that was when Dumbledore awarded him points for his bravery to help the Gryffindors finally won the House Cup for the first time during their first year.

Neville, on the other hand found out a lot about Hermione, realizing with amazement that Hermione's happy memories seemed boundless in comparison to his. There were quite a few. Last year's memories whirled past Neville's eyes in a maelstrom of colors making Neville feel dazed. Gradually, the visions slowed down, becoming clearer to Neville . . . there was Victor Krum asking her to visit Durmstrang, dancing with Victor Krum during the Yule Ball, Harry and Ron making up right after the first task, Harry snatching the golden egg from the clutches of a fiery dragon, Draco Malfoy changed into a white ferret by Professor Moody, and when Cedric Diggory was announced Hogwarts Champion.

Neville was surprised to discover Hermione had had a secret crush on Diggory.

The visions shifted, there was more . . . Madam Pomfrey magically fixing Hermione's teeth, watching the Quidditch World Cup championship with Harry and Ron's family, McGonagall praising her for her work in Transfiguration, riding a flying Hippogriff with Harry in the middle of the night, saving the same Hippogriff from being butchered outside Hagrid's hut, Ron telling her that she's no longer alone in helping Hagrid with Buckbeak's case, and Professor Lupin complimenting her as the cleverest witch of her time.

There was a flurry of pinkish glittery substance, then the visions cleared, he saw Hagrid saying proudly, "An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can't do," Gilderoy Lockhart sending her a Get Well soon card, the time she bought Crookshanks from the pet shop, Dumbledore awarding her points for cool logic during their first year, catching the flying key with Ron and Harry in an unknown chamber, getting Norbert the dragon safely to Charlie's friends at the rooftop, Harry catching the golden snitch for the first time in Quidditch.

A wave of sparkling, bluish substance encircled Neville for a full minute. Then it whooshed past him, and he could see an eleven-year old Hermione waving her wand in Ollivander's shop, Hermione looking very impressed the first time she entered Hogwarts, a very elated Hermione waving the letter, which informed her she was accepted in Hogwarts school of Magic . . . then a very young, probably four years old, sleepy-looking Hermione being carried in his father's arms, an even younger Hermione being told by her parents that she is their precious little daughter and they will always love and protect her, an eleven month old baby Hermione with tiny fairies encircling her crib playing with her . . . and there were a lot more visions whirling around but were starting to fade into a blur, confounding Neville.

The Sennipah slowly faded, then disappeared entirely, all of the students slowly drift back to reality.

Nevile blinked. He looked around him and noticed that Draco Malfoy was the first one to stand up. Draco's partner Millicent Bulstrode swayed and looked like she was going to faint. Everyone had started opening their eyes. He continued observing the others. Neville wasn't sure but Pansy Parkinson looked unmistakably uneasy while Goyle was looking at the blonde in an alarmed way. He checked among the Gryffindors, and saw Harry looking slightly disoriented, while Ron was smiling sheepishly, eyes downcast. The rest had a look of amazement on their faces. He turned his attention to Hagrid who was motioning for them to leave the cave in pairs.

Neville stood up, and turned to face Hermione. He paled in shock at what he saw. "Hermione!" he shouted in alarm.

Everyone turned to look at Neville, who was kneeling towards a deathly pale Hermione, lying crumpled on the ground.

Hagrid was about to rush to Hermione's direction when a very frightened Ron shouted, "Hagrid, Parvati's not breathing at all!"

Neville threw a glance towards Parvati who was slumped unconscious to the ground. Just like Hermione, her face was chalky white and eyes tightly closed.

"Lavender isn't breathing either!"

Stunned, Neville swung around to find Harry holding Lavender around the shoulders.

"Someone help me carry them three outa here," instructed Hagrid tersely. "The rest of yeh go in two's and leave the cave this instant."

Too stunned at what was happening, Neville stood frozen in his spot. His jaw dropped open in surprise when Draco Malfoy rushed to Hermione's side, scooped her up and without a word, left the cave in a hurry.

Pansy Parkinson let out a loud gasp.

Neville was wide-eyed with confusion after witnessing Malfoy strode towards the path leading to the entrance with Hermione in his arms.

Everyone stood there in disbelief, most especially Ron and Harry. Wordlessly, Neville rushed to follow Draco. This galvanized everyone into action. Ron quickly picked up Parvati, while Harry followed suit and carried Lavender.

Hagrid motioned to the class to follow quickly. The rest began walking towards the path, which led to the cave's entrance. Nobody uttered a single word; they just kept walking in muted silence.

Outside, Draco placed Hermione gently on the grass, then he took his wand and a stretcher popped into view. After placing the deathly pale Hermione on the stretcher, he remained standing rigidly by her side.

Barely ten seconds later, Neville, Harry and Hagrid all came out of the cave at the same time. Hagrid prepared two more stretchers for Lavender and Parvati.

A minute later, everybody came out of the cave, looking nervously at the three unconscious students.

Harry and Neville immediately strode towards Hermione's side. Both glared at Draco, who had not budged from his spot.

A muscle twiched on Harry's jaw but he said nothing. After a tense silence, he took out his wand. "Enervate!" he said, pointing the wand at her. Nothing happened.

A few seconds later, Ron joined them. He appeared startled that Draco Malfoy was still standing at her side. Neville noted nervously how Ron kept clenching his fist.

"Enervate!" Ron shouted desperately, stiffly pointing the wand at her.

Still nothing happened. Worse, Hermione's pallor seemed to be changing to a bluish hue, which was normally associated with dead people.

"It's no use, Ron. I've already tried," Harry said grimly. He placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. Ron slowly put down his wand. All of them looked miserable, their forlorn expression identical with Draco's.

Hagrid approached them, holding something in his hand. "It's worth a try," he mumbled to himself.

It was as big as a cherry, but silver in color. Hagrid smashed the fruit with his hand, and saved the juice using a thick leaf. He placed the leaf close to Hermione's lips and let one drop of the colorless juice touched her lips then he did exactly the same to Parvati and Lavender.

They all waited with bated breath for any kind of reaction but nothing happened.

"I fergot that Muggle borns are affected strangely by Sennipah. I don' understan' why those ter are affected too." Hagrid looked guilty at what happened.

Nobody said anything.

Then out of the blue, Pansy asked in a bored voice, "Will they die?" Pansy's expression seemed to say 'So what, they're only Muggle born. No big deal.'

"I'd like ter say no, but really do not know. This ne'er happened afore."

~*~*~*~